Frequently Asked Questions

Where is "South Asia"?

South Asia is a group of countries that are culturally, historically, and linguistically connected, and also geographically located in the Indian subcontinent. There are variations on the countries that are included when South Asia is referred to, although most include India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Some include border countries like Afghanistan, Myanmar, or Tibet, while other organizations choose not to do that. Tasveer decided to include the countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka based on research, considerations, respect, and recognition for each country and people.

Why do you include Afghanistan?

Because Afghanistan is central between South Asia and the Middle East, it often gets lost when regions are classified. Some South Asian organizations include Afghanistan in their mission while others don't. We include it because of its historical significance during the Moghul and British colonial period and its close political, religious, linguistic, and cultural relationship with other South Asian countries. We also include Afghanistan because there is no Seattle based film organization that covers Afghanistan in their mission statement and we did not want this country to be disregarded.

 

Why isn't my country/language/culture represented?

The countries listed are the countries considered to be in the South Asian region and in the mission statement of the presenting organization Tasveer. There is intention and effort to include all the people of South Asia around the globe.

But films are selected based on availability, costs, production year, production value, public screening rights, and other logistical factors. Most likely a film from your region/culture/language is not in the festival because it was not feasible for any number of these reasons.The intention and mission is to include, not to exclude, the multitude of South Asia.

Please email us if you know of any independently produced films from your region, culture, or language. You are also welcome to join the festival team for the next year.

And finally, we encourage everyone to learn to make films so that South Asian diversity is reflected in the films available. Contact us if you are interested in filmmaking and need our assistance. Our email for general inquiry is info@tasveer.org.